David Obey: “If the language in the bill is allowed to remain, hard-working public servants will be unable to choose health insurance…”

“If the language in the bill is allowed to remain, hard-working public servants will be unable to choose health insurance which covers legal, doctor-recommended abortions which are necessary to preserve a woman's health. If this amendment passes, no health plan will be required to offer abortion coverage, no one, no one will be required to choose a health plan which covers abortion. It will be an individual decision. This is not a question of taxpayer money being used to subsidize abortion. That is not the issue here. The health insurance premiums are earned by the employees of our government every single bit as much as their paycheck. Those premiums, just like the paycheck, belong to the employee, not to the Government and not to the taxpayer. The American Medical Association tells us that making it more difficult, more expensive for women to access needed abortion leads to more health complications for mothers. This is a question of allowing women to choose a health insurance plan which covers an important aspect of women's health. Under the language in the bill, health insurance plans are not permitted to cover an abortion when the doctor tells the patient that an abortion is needed to preserve the mother's health. This is unacceptable.”